ius as a poet of sublime genius. He begins
his Ode to Agrippa with the following lines:

Scriberis Vario fortis, et hostium
Victor, Maeonii carminis alite,
Quam rem cumque ferox navibus, aut equis
Miles te duce gesserit.
Lib. i. ode 6.

Varius, who soars on epic wing,
Agrippa, shall thy conquests sing,
Whate'er, inspir'd by thy command,
The soldier dar'd on sea or land.
FRANCIS'S HORACE.

A few fragments only of his works have reached posterity. His tragedy
of THYESTES is highly praised by Quintilian. That judicious critic
does not hesitate to say, that it may be opposed to the best
productions of the Greek stage. _Jam Varii Thyestes cuilibet Graecorum
comparari potest._ Varius lived in high favour at the court of
Augustus. After the death of Virgil, he was joined with _Plotinus_
and _Tucca_ to revise the works of that admirable poet. The _Varus_ of
Virgil, so often celebrated in the Pastorals, was, notwithstanding
what some of the commentators have said, a different person from
Varius, the author of Thyestes.

Section XIII.

[a] The rural delight of Virgil is described by himself:

Rura mihi et rigui placeant in vallibus amnes;
Flumina amem, sylvasque inglorius. O ubi campi,
Sperchiusque, et virginibus bacchata Lacaenis
Taygeta! O quis me gelidis sub montibus Haemi
Sistat, et ingenti ramorum protegat umbra?
GEORGICA, lib. ii. ver. 485.

Me may the lowly vales and woodland please,
And winding rivers, and inglorious ease;
O that I wander'd by Sperchius' flood,
Or on Taygetus' sacred top I stood!
Who in cool Haemus' vales my limbs will lay,
And in the darkest thicket hide from day?
WHARTON'S VIRG.

Besides this poetical retreat, which his imagination could command at
any time, Virgil had a real and delightful villa near Naples, where
he composed his Georgics, and wrote great part of the AEneid.

[b] When Augustus, or any eminent citizen, distinguished by his public
merit, appeared in the theatre, the people testified their joy by
acclamations, and unbounded applause. It is recorded by Horace, that
Maecenas received that public honour.

----Datus in theatro
Cum tibi plausus,
Care Maecenas eques, ut paterni
Fluminis ripae, simul et jocosa
Redderet